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AP Photo/Scott Sady
Gov. Jim Gibbons prepares to give his state of the state speech upstairs in the Capitol building in Carson City on Monday, Feb. 8, 2010.
Published Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 | 7 p.m.
Updated Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 | 9:46 p.m.
Reader poll
State of the State
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Gov. Jim Gibbons gave an emergency State of the State address at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 8. Video is courtesy KVBC Channel 3.
Sun Archives
- Governor plans emergency address on Nevada budget (2-7-10)
- Governor’s speech will lay out state’s budget problems (2-7-10)
- State budget comes up $800 million short (1-22-10)
- Forecast: Economy will begin to rebound in mid-2011 (1-22-10)
- Gibbons’ no-talk order further divides branches (1-22-10)
- Special session may require help of state Supreme Court (1-10-10)
Sun Coverage
In his State of the State address Monday night, Gov. Jim Gibbons said Nevada could cut its way out of an $881 million deficit -- and "reinvent" the role of state government in the process.
He repeatedly declared that new taxes should play no role in solving the crisis and blamed the Democratic-controlled Legislature for overriding his veto on a series of taxes last year, saying the increases have made the fiscal picture worse.
"We are working on solutions to turn this recession into an opportunity to reinvent our state’s government," Gibbons said. "We may never have an opportunity like this again. The dire economic situation we are facing now requires immediate action."
The picture is bleak. General fund revenues dropped 17 percent last year and the state faces a $1 billion shortfall between now and June 2011. Gibbons declared a special session of the Legislature for Feb. 23 to address the deficit.
Gibbons outlined a number of proposals to help address the state's shortfall, including 6 percent across-the-board cuts for state workers, layoffs, closing the Nevada State Prison in Carson City and reductions in state health care programs. He also used the speech to promote the education plan he unveiled last month, which would eliminate mandates for class sizes and full-day kindergarten. The plan would give local school districts more control over how funds are spent.
Gibbons noted the toll the recession had taken: 140,000 Nevadans have lost their jobs -- and another 90,000 are expected to join the unemployment rolls over the next 18 months. Home values plummeted 24.5 percent in the third quarter of 2009, the steepest decline of any state and more than six times the national average. The state's foreclosure rate is four times the national average, he said.
"As your Governor, my job is no different than that of your family or your business," Gibbons said. "You have your checkbook in one hand and your bills in the other, and you do your best to make ends meet. Just like Nevada’s families, just like Nevada’s businesses – it is time for Nevada government to face facts and make tough choices about the services we can and cannot afford."
Still, Gibbons returned time and again to the theme that state government and Nevadans must do more with less. The recession, he said, has provided the opportunity to trim the "bloated government services" residents enjoyed in the boom years.
"The economic crisis we face cannot be fixed with gimmicks or gadgets or temporary patches," Gibbons said. "The problem is our system. We must find a permanent solution. We must commit to a fundamental evaluation of what problems require government intervention and what problems we must fix ourselves. We must accept that limiting government means expanding personal responsibility. Nevada state government cannot afford to be all things to all people."
Gibbons' speech, with its Ronald Reagan quotes, seemed tailor-made for Nevada conservatives, the voters most likely to cast ballots in a June primary where the governor faces a tough challenge from former U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval.
Nevada government may be bloated in the eyes of the state's libertarians, but it is also one of the smallest in the country.
Economists usually measure things by what portion of the total economic pie they consume. By that measurement, as a percentage of gross domestic product, which is essentially the state’s total economic output, Nevada has the leanest state government in the country, according to a Sun analysis. Another way to measure the size of the government is to determine what the state spends per capita. By this measurement, Nevada has the third leanest government in the country, at $1,136 per person in 2007, ahead only of flinty New Hampshire and impoverished Michigan.
Finally, if the measurement is public employees per capita, Nevada is the leanest state government in the nation, with 3.86 percent of the population working in the public sector. (That number includes local governments, which tend to be more robust than state government here in Nevada.)
Gibbons said he had honored his pledge not to raise taxes -- and vowed he would continue to do so.
"'No New Taxes' is not a cliché," he said. "To me it means more than that. It is a plan."
He added: "More government spending and more government mandates are never the answer. With 13 percent of our citizens unemployed, Nevada cannot continue to fund government as we know it today. Society is changing. State government must change with it. We must focus on the important services which ensure life, health, education and public safety. We will have to eliminate programs and services which make some people feel good, but which we simply can no longer afford. We must cut government spending to ease the burden on our citizens and our businesses."
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford said Gibbons' plan to have all state departments cut their budgets by 10 percent would not solve the crisis.
The effects, he said, could mean "the closure of a state prison, reduction of services to the elderly, and would roll back decades of progress that has been made to improve mental health, K-12 and higher education, further jeopardizing the general welfare and safety of all of us."
So to scale back cuts to education, Horsford said Democrats favor stepping up enforcement to collect unpaid taxes and ensuring that mining and other industries "pay their fair share of fees."
In other areas, he proposed reducing the cost of professional and service contracts, scaling back some state services to four days a week and cutting hours of operation and closing buildings and departments where necessary.
Horsford agreed that taxes were off the table in the short term, but said the Legislature must enact a "fair, broad-based and equitable" tax structure when the economy recovers.
"We must invest in economic growth and expansion," Horsford said. "And we must learn from the mistakes of the past so that we never return to this period of time where we are forced to choose between meeting our basic obligations and investing in our future."
Horsford encouraged Nevadans to weigh in at a series of public budget hearings in Las Vegas and Carson City this week.
Rory Reid, the Clark County Commission chairman and likely Democratic gubernatorial nominee, blamed Gibbons for the state's fiscal crisis.
"This situation is a result of the void of leadership in the governor’s office," Reid said in a statement. "The failure to develop any strategy for diversifying our economy – even in the face of global recession, brought us to this day. The signs have been there for years that Nevada's economy could not survive by relying only on tourism."
In his speech, Gibbons replayed last year's legislative session, singling out Democrats for tax increases.
"The balanced budget I submitted imposed no new taxes and allowed no expansion of state government," he said. "The Nevada Legislature disregarded my solution. They raised taxes one-billion dollars, and they made government bigger. They made the wrong call. I vetoed their new taxes and their inflated spending. I thought it was wrong then. I know it’s wrong now. I planned responsibly. They gambled on new taxes and we all lost."
He followed: "Despite the Legislature’s new taxes, our state revenues continue going down. More taxes have not helped Nevada’s economy. They never will."
In Gibbons' saying he kept his promise to not raise taxes by vetoing the 2009 tax increase, he's not being entirely truthful. He allowed a significant hotel room tax increase to become law, neither signing nor vetoing it.
Gibbons said he has ordered both the Nevada Commissions on Tourism and Economic Development to submit reports within 30 days with ideas on how to attracts visitors and businesses to the state. He also said he was working to bring green jobs to Nevada, citing a recycling pilot program in Carson City that he hopes to make statewide. If successful, he said the program could make Nevada "the recycling capital of the west."
"I am up to this challenge," he said. "I will never surrender. I am not a quitter."
J. Patrick Coolican contributed to this report.
True leadership. I don't care for this mans personal ethics as to his personal life, but I do say that he a real leader. A man unlike Obama.
Idiot.
If you think Gibbons is a leader, you have extremely low standards.
Gibbons has no clues as to what to do, and he comes up with giving teachers gift certificates to supplement their salary, and he's giving 6% of his own salary for "teacher awards" ?!?!?!
Gibbons can't be voted out of office soon enough!!
From "the speech":
"We must reduce the size of state government. "No
New Taxes" is NOT a cliche. To me it means more than that. It is a plan."
I'm sorry. That has been your plan, and it hasn't really worked out for Nevada, has it, Governor?
Nevada already HAS the lowest number of state workers per-capita in the entire UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
"It is a plan" says governor Gym.
Gym, your "plan" sucks.
I need a job in 10 months and just hope the mines will take me in.
Gibbons pledged "No New Taxes" before the last Legislature and then introduced a budget which demanded tax increases.
He demanded an increase in the room tax and then cowardly refused to sign it into law. Instead, he hid from it and let it pass into law without his signature... or veto.
He signed a pledge to the taxpayers of the state of Nevada that he would veto ANY AND ALL tax increases.
Nevada voters can't trust a lying republican like Jim Gibbons.
Sounded like a campaign speech to me, this guy is worst than Obama. I am now starting to pity him based on the notion that he could have some mental problems. Only a retard would come up with the line of crap that this fella is putting out there. Teachers whining? I don't think so, they're just trying to stay afloat. I'm not a teacher nor would I want to be one in this state. He doesn't have a clue as to the ramifications his actions would bring . You can't close dumps owned by California just because they are in your state. He knew California was buying that land for dumps ,he should have done something then. How about a politician gift program where the money will go to the govenors salary and thats all he gets. This guy is just retarded , give him a lobotomy and a shot of thorzine and send him on his way please.
MORON-Worst Governor in the history of the state and still has people believing him. You blind sheep will all be sorry when the country crumbles while big business keeps sticking to the regular guy. This guy could care less about the state, the school kids, teachers, or any other person that has no role in greasing him. Where is all of the money generated in the last 20 years on the Las Vegas Strip? Not in Nevada, read the Sage Brush State and learn from history.
Gmag,
There is a good reason why "No New Taxes" hasn't worked for Nevada - we haven't tried it.
Nevada's government (at all levels) keeps adding new taxes all over the place and increasing the existing ones. This is why Nevada's government funding is ranked 25th in the nation.
The new taxes bought us new programs and created lots of new government jobs. But it hasn't made life better - as you pointed out.
PS, having a low per capita government work force doesn't mean anything. And cutting 200 state workers won't leave us any worse off than last year - in fact we'll still be better off.
You'd need to cut 1,500 state jobs in order to maintain the same ratio we had before with the number of residents who have fled the state in the last year.
If all 16,000 (non-education related) state employees were terminated there'd still be a $300 million dollar State budget deficit!?
Those that tax rightfully deserve failure.
:-p
I make 200G as a Henderson firefighter, do nothing during the day or night, get paid for holidays and vacations.
So what's the problem? Life is good, I have a GED, buncha' kids, live down the street from the station. People, quit yer bitchin".
He has aged 10 years and gained 50 pounds in this year alone. His 11 percent approval rating is about to go down!
Loved it - Great speech!
He said everything that needed said!
All the Jimbo haters got it right in the nose tonight! Loved it!
Its time for Nevada to give him the boot and all the other spineless cowards that have remained silent about taxing gaming and mining: Reid, Sandoval, and all the others in the legislature. WAKE UP NEVADA and stop voting partisan politics. HEED my warning for once!!!!!!!!!!!Vote for nonpartisan!
Yeah it's time to reinvent State government with a new Governor because the one we have now is a joke. He's only good for assaulting women.
And she rebuffed him too just like we should at election time.
"There is a good reason why "No New Taxes" hasn't worked for Nevada - we haven't tried it."
Thanks for pointing out that Gibbons broke his promise already (the room tax increase in the last session did go into law and Gibbons DID NOT VETO IT).
So basically his entire speech was just another lie.
Not to worry, just like me when the Gov makes these big cuts to State Salaries most will qualify under President Obama's expanded food stamp program, Im taking one of my annual days to go apply.
50/50 state /fed program they should save ooodles !!
Mining and gaming companies love him deeply!! Really deeply!
They will most likely contribute heavily to his re-election campaign.
His off-shore bank account must be bursting at the seams with "quiet" contributions from the big boys. Mining alone will take $5 billion of our gold in profits this year!
Oh my, this doesn't happen! Pay (paid off) to play- just like the girls on main street.
"Mining and gaming companies love him deeply!! Really deeply!"
Who you talking about?
Reid is the pol in this state that gets the most money from gaming and mining.
Just a FYI...pharmaceuticals are buying TV ads in flavor of Reid.
Reid has plenty of corporate friends.
In fact, corporations are so scared of NY Schumer being majority leader that they giving millions to Reid.
God forbid that the Democrats get a majority leader who is not totally incompentent. They might actually get their garbage passed.
Patrick/NPRI says;
"having a low per capita government work force doesn't mean anything. And cutting 200 state workers won't leave us any worse off than last year - in fact we'll still be better off."
Nevada has the smallest state workforce in the country, Pat. I opine that this indicates we have a very efficient, hard-working bunch of government employees. Why do we have to keep pounding on the ones we have(left)? Is the recession/economic "downturn their fault, specifically?
Nevada has fewest gov't employees per capita in the USA. And Gibbons wants to cut back government?
Unless he has an army of android robots that can replace humans for cents on the dollar he is out of his mind.
Yup.
No hard numbers. No strategic planning. No leadership.
Plenty of campaign rhetoric and buzz words from a Reagan-lite wannabe.
The worst Nevada governor ever.
Let all hope for leadership and innovative thinking from the Legislature. It's not going come from the governor's mansion. We need serious leaders, now.
At least he's consistent.
Each time Jim Gibbons has his back against the wall, he makes a wild political suggestion that sounds good to the far right and nonsense to everyone else.
Cut funding to education and count on people who will be standing in longer lines at the DMV to buy gift certificates that will then fund teacher salaries.
Seriously.
Holy Moley. Jim Gibbons has finally lost it. HE WANTS TO PAY SCHOOLTEACHERS THROUGH CHARITY OFFERED BY PEOPLE WAITING AT THE DMV!!!
Anyone who wants to vote for this guy after tonight needs to be taken to be evaluated for involuntary commitment.
Oh, wait, no...Gibbons already cut the finding for that....
People usually aren't in the giving mood after waiting in line for two hours at the DMV.
Gmag,
Given the fact that adding state workers has unlikely produced results (government grows because it can not because it must) it would be a fair guess to actually assume that other states simply have a far more bloated government and that Nevada's voters are simply more intelligent.
Or it could be that our government workers are more intelligent and harder working than government workers in other states.
Stop cutting money for schools and teachers.
Patrick:
Prove it.
Patrick
Nevada ranked 49th out of 50 states for state and local tax burden (6.6%) in 2008. These guys adjust for out-of-state spending. A better measure of burden.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr163...
Patrick:
If population in Nevada increased by 1% from July 2008 to July 2009, wouldn't that mean adding employees by your formula not cutting 1,500? Your theory should cut both ways shouldn't it?
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story....
gmag.....when are you going to start to get your Democrats to sign a pledge to raise billions in new taxes in the next regular session in 2011?
I been reading the paper and still see no activity.
Turrialba,
1) Check page 10 for the Tax Foundation Report. It shows Nevada's total tax collection per capita ranks 25th.
2) 28,000 people have left since June 2009 http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/2010... another estimate suggests we may lose as many as 100,000 (which would put 1500 jobs as the appropriate cut)
3) Read my article here about population size and government work force size.
But to prove the point lets just think about it for a moment. Government tends to employ more people to do less work than their private sector counter parts - this is why privatization of services almost always saves money. Government employs more people to get work down, the private sector usually employs capital to make workers more productive.
See here: http://npri.org/publications/facilitatin...
"In 1992, Union Public Schools in Tulsa, Okla., hired ServiceMaster to mow 300 acres of lawns. ServiceMaster agreed on a flat fee of $350,000 per year, saving the district $75,000. Before the private outsourcing, it took 10 government employees 14 days to complete the job. With ServiceMaster, the job was completed in five days using eight people."
CCSD also employs bureaucrats to rubber stamp purchase requests from the local schools. 6 of them must approve requests. 6!!! Why is that necessary? It isn't, it is a waste of human capital. Using human labor to produce no value wastes resources and makes society poorer as a result.
Please register to vote as a Green Party member or Non-partisan voter.
Please visit: www.Curtis4governor.com
Jim played at being governor for 3 years. All he did was collect his paycheck and his perks and mess around on his wife.. The man was a crappy, do nothing congressman so why was it expected he would do better as a governor? If he gets the Republican nomination this time around, say hello to a Democratic governor in January, 2011.
Wrong Patrick--this is adjusted to account for taxes paid by out-of-staters. When you look at total burden for residents, it is 49. The fact is that we tax the crap out of tourists and when the don't show up we lose.
You have no idea what you are talking about and do some basic numbers as found on the CCSD website (FAQ)
The 8:1 ratio is correct, however, look at what is going on at 352 schools:
38,000 employees (average 110 per school)
309,000 students (average of 880 per school)
1,399 Administrators (average 4 per school or 1 per 220 students)
18,000 licensed employees (55 per school)
11,000 support personnel (33 per school)
$7,600 per pupil.
Of the 33 per school 4 are drive busses (1495 busses)
Let just assume the other 29 are as follows for our average school of 880:
1 school nurse
1 financial person (pay the bills)
1 personnel (do the paper work)
2 administrative assistants to support personnel and finance
4 Custodians/mantanence
9 kitchen/food service
4 Administrative Assistants--front desk, support administrators
5 Teachers Aids (1 for every 10 teachers).
2 Library techs.
Is this excessive for a school with 880 students (no)
Teachers--17:1 on average, but a teacher only teaches 5 or 6 class periods--in other words increase the load to 19:1
Assume that 10 are counselors or librarians
About 25:1 average ratio district wide.
Additionally there are 18 part-time employees which are substitute teachers or temp workers.
Where do you want to cut? Show me where the savings are.
Is this excessive (the method allocates all overheads to the school)
All of this is being done on a budget of $6.7 million for this school.
Looks like a deal to me
sandy99,
"'No New Taxes' is not a cliche," he said. "To me it means more than that. It is a plan."
HOW LONG do you think it took our Governor Gym to come up with his "PLAN"???
I bet it came at him like a BOLT out of the BLUE!
Turribula,
You don't seem to understand. Read the Tax Foundation Report. The 49th ranking comes from looking at taxes paid by residents (excluding some corporate taxes and tourist taxes) taken as a percentage of our high incomes.
Thus, you would only use this statistic if you wanted to raise an income tax.
You need to step back and take a look at the big picture.
1) Every state funds government different. Some states have more local government and some less. Some have more state government and less local government. Some have a balance. Looking just at state taxes DOES NOT give you an accurate picture of government funding across each state.
2) We rank 25th for government taxes collected per capita. That is state and local government from all tax sources per resident.
3) Every dollar taken out of the economy is a dollar that could not be spent in the private sector on goods and services people need (not understanding this is usually where people on the left get hung up). If you take $1 from a tourist that is $1 they can't spend on a beer, a new gadget, a tip for a waitress, etc. The same is true with corporations, the more you tax them the less they have to invest in their operations to expand, the less they have to pay employees or hire new employees. They also have less to pay investors (reward them for their investment which in turn encourages more investment).
Why are you unwilling to look at the big picture? You have to understand Nevada's government at all level is funded quite well. If our services are poor it is because of mismanagement, not because of a lack of funding.
As for your other comment, not all licensed personel are classroom teachers. Take a look at the budget yourself, they explain it. They actually break down the number of classroom teachers and it is less than 18,000.
"It is the measure of a civilized society that it affords the greatest protection to the rights and needs of those who are the most vulnerable." Barbara Whitman, PhD
Patrick:
What is it then? Where are you going to cut in the schools?
Answer the tax question--tell me how Nevadans are taxed more than 25 other states. Show me how the actual state and local burden is not 49th out of 50. It is this way because we tax a bunch of people that don't live here.
This isn't difficult to comprehend. Corporate taxes, sales taxes, gaming taxes are all indirect taxes on the people. If you don't accept that reality you will never understand.
Every dollar taken by the government is a dollar taken from someone's paycheck, investment, or out of job that would have existed.
Take a look at page 9 (I think I said 10 before). Page 9 demonstrates that our total taxes collected per capita (per resident) ranks 25th.
Turrb, you seem to want to ignore the fact that our government is 25th best funded to focus on ONLY what residents pay as a percentage of their incomes.
Basically it seems you want to say "Our government isn't funded well enough because we don't take enough from our residents as a percentage of our incomes"
You ignore the overall picture.
What is that picture Patrick? You are operating from a simple set of assumptions regarding government and how it delivers services.
I understand just fine Patrick, are you saying that every dollar taxed in any state should be the same to me as a dollar taxed here?
What is an indirect tax Patrick? The local and state tax burden in Nevada ranks 49th out 50? Is my tax burden higher than that because the state taxes people that don't live here as a policy?
I am getting mighty confused with this reasoning? Because we tax outsiders, no one should move here because our indirect taxes are higher? Mighty fishy Patrick.
Where are you cutting in the schools Patrick? Show me.
Turrialba; You are confusing me, which isn't hard to do some days.
Are you saying that taxes paid by visitors do not count?
Yup. The state in local tax burden for Nevadans is about 6.6% or 49th in the nation behind Alaska. What do I care if Nevada taxes a bunch of folks from back east? It isn't paid by Nevadans.
What Patrick is arguing is that you should consider total tax revenue paid by residents and tourist and divide that by the number of people who reside in Nevada. If you do that Nevada is 25th in the nation in terms of state and local tax burden.
When someone relocates to NV, they do not consider the taxes tourists pay.
If you argue that Nevada's government is underfunded you don't throw out and ignore 3/4ths of all the taxes they collect - yet this is what you, and many others, have done. I'm guessing you don't understand the point, and if you did, then I would have to accuse you of manipulating people by giving them a bad statistic.
Turb,
A corporate tax is an indirect tax on an individual.
Corporations are nothing more than middle men for tax collection because taxes are paid in 3 ways.
1) Employee wages are reduced
2) Employee work hours or positions are reduced
3) Investment income is reduced.
Thus every dollar a corporation pays in taxes is a dollar someone lost out of their pocket - whether or not they know it was taken from them.
Turrialba has gotten to the crux of the problem that Patrick doesn't want you to see. Since the bulk of our tax burden is covered by tourists and out of state construction firms, when tourism and construction went belly up, tax revenue went down and the state could pay the bills. If we had a more stable tax source, our problems wouldn't be where they are.
No we'd be in the same spot. California and Arizona have personal and corporate income taxes and they are just as bad off as we are. The problem is big government spending and unsustainable growth.
lvmachead; You make perfect sense, but we also should consider that just because revenue comes in doesn't mean it has to go right back out. I think our legislators are guilty expanding our state government just because the funds were available. Now that it has turned around they have a choice; one side wants to raise taxes or make new taxes, the other side wants to cut costs. I think they have demonstrated that just raising taxes doesn't work by increasing several taxes on July 1, 2009. They collected an additional billion, which still left us a billion short.
Turrialba; Thanks.
Patrick:
We are in dire straights like California and Arizona. If our tax base was a bit more stable and not so reliant on descretionary spending it would help and help insulate government services from these deficits. Don't expect public services such as public safety and education without taxes.
The flow of revenues in this state are based on consumption. When tourists stop rolling in or people cut back revenues drop (it is a tax cut Patrick). It hasn't lifted us out of the depression. So we all have given ourselves a tax holiday and it hasn't helped one bit.
Let me guess, laying off thousands is the answer right?
"No New Taxes' is not a cliche," he said. "To me it means more than that. It is a plan."
Good Lord.
Gym. Please. That's not a "PLAN."
It is LAZINESS AND TOMFOOLERY!
Nonsense Turri,
Arizona, California and Nevada have similarities and differences.
We all experienced a housing boom. We all raised taxes during the housing boom. We all spent like wild and expanding government programs during the housing boom. We all have big buget holes.
The biggest difference is that California and Arizona have personal and coporate income taxes and that DID NOT prevent their budget problems.
It would not have solved ours. The state would have spent that extra money, and we'd have an even bigger budget hole, and you'd be here again demanding another tax increase.
Basically, you can't argue that a "more diverse" tax base would have fixed our budget problems when states with "more diverse" tax codes are in as bad of shape as us.
It isn't a revenue problem. It is a spending problem.
lvmachead;
Correct, sir!
Nevada counts on Tourism/tourists to pay it's bills. No tourists, no dough.
We need to have a "plan" to fall back on. That PLANNING means looking at alternative sources of revenue.
Why in the world are Nevadans opposed to making mining and gaming pay their freight in this state?
It's a mystery to me.
"No new taxes IS a plan"; so says our Governor!
What depth of thought. I am astounded.
Gym Gibbons ran on a platform that included a promise to be Nevada's "Education Governor."
We have indeed gotten an education. K-12 & Higher Ed will not be funded to any degree of sanity under an administration of Gym Gibbons.
Unless your name is Patrick R. Gibbons of NPRI. In that case, any amount of public financing is odious on taxpayers and hurts the private sector, and henceforth, the overall economy. So, in Pat's mind, "the Plan" is BRILLIANT!
The only thing gibbons needs to reinvent is his defense case when he goes through impeachment proceedings. Please Lord make that happen,if there is a God let it happen. Deliver us from the embarrassment this man has caused the Great State of Nevada. Comfort us in knowing he will be in office no longer. Amen
Well here is a shocker, how much would be saved if the county and state STOPPED paying for thier retirements. $$$$$ let them pay for thier own like the public entities do.
How much would be saved if the fossels retired NOW and quit the double dips... $$$$$
Gee maybe just maybe we wouldn't have to cut those programs for the less fortunate...
And I almost forgot-- When are our elected officials going to go pro bono on the positions that we voted them into.
HUMMMM, I think I just solved our budget problem.
Being I just ask the other day a question to a county commisionner on why they dont stop or cut in half thier salaries. He just laughed at me and oh no we cant do that... no that wont ever happen.
Well I can't wait for the elections to begin because every stinkin one them has lost my vote.
Gmag,
I only ask that we fund what works. You seem to think the government never wastes a dime and always needs more money to fight the never ending crusades that anyone will come up with next. - regardless of the cost or the effectiveness of the new policy or regulation.
I simply do not understand why hard core left-wingers don't believe fiscal responsibility should be a core value. It makes no sense why the left-wing simply wants to pay more and get less as a result. This is what it appears like to me when you make your points. I bet it is not your intention though.
Patrick,
I only ask that we fund what is necessary to run a civil, educated society.
I don't see that the Governor and his ilk have any interest in either.
I have seen state workers work, oops no I haven't. Boo hoo I;m gonna cut in my salary. State workers whar makes you so special? Give me a reason or STFU and take it like the rest of us. And firefighters are not hero's, the real hero's are military and only them, get it you stupid firefighters! Your time to be honored is way past time. Oh we put our life on the line, what putting out garage fires? I would never have a girlscout sell you cookies, Idiots.
gmag39 is right.
Yawn, Patrick. You need some new ideas and less rhetoric.
A 50% tax on all UNIONS income would go a long way to fill the budget gap.
From what I read of the proposed budget cut details, the cuts (for the most part) affect future services given, not those who are receiving them now. Pretty much like social security benefits will not be there for the generation after the baby boomers collect.
It seems that recessions or depressions are the Republican's dream. This way, they get to scuttle all of societies gains in the name of necessity.
Maybe we will be better off as a third world country where the noble class (not you posting righties, I mean the real money class) lives the life of Riley and the other 97% (well at least 90%) will just have to suffer with poor roads, crumbling bridges, school classes of 45 and more etc. etc. (But there will be more cops - you betcha.)
I guess I'll just have to work a little harder to be sure I'm in that 90%. That is the American way (or it used to be before our generous trade and/or outsourcing policies obliterated most of our industries).
Turri and Gmag,
I await your recomendations. What have you got?
I'll give you a recommendation Gibbons.
Stop massaging your numbers, accept the visitors revenue as a windfall, then join everyone else to pony up what is necessary to keep Nevada a first class state.
Patrick: Dude you are the think tank guy. I was stumped by the CCSD problem you and I shared yesterday. I was looking to you to show me were the fat was to cut. You were telling us how bloated the district was.
Instead you told me how you credits and vouchers would save $1.3 billion over 10 years. How much of the annual budget for CCSD would that be? I need to find the savings by the end of the month. Real disappointed. Tell me would $130 million equal about a 6% of the CCSC budget (not counting the carry on the buildings and facilities which would make it far less)
I thought about charging every one of the 2.7 residents in Nevada 64 cents per day, each day for the next 70 weeks. After all, all these people use all these government services that don't work. People can go to DMV and get a giving certificate and give if they can afford it.
I have decided to exclude mines and businesses since a tax would be crippling and I know you wouldn't like it. It is too painful to contemplate the prospect of taxing tourists. This indirect tax could cause harm to people who did not live here. Afterall thanks to them we are 25th in tax state and local tax burden and not 49th. It is the big picture you were explaining.
The gov said said the problem isn't revenue but spending.
Energy consumption tax $300,000,000 (gasoline, electricity, natural gas consumed in this state including by mines)
$400,000,000 spending cuts
$181,000,000 in fees, assessments, sales taxes.
I must say I read these comments day after day and have to shake my head. Some of you people use these platforms as nothing more than a chat room, half the time you haven't completely read the article or at the very least you didn't comprehend them!
First of all, our incapable Gov. made this speech a political platform and nothing more. Of course he covered his butt by simply mentioning a couple of issues at hand. However, he has not been present for his entire term until now. He just found a way of using the State of the State to try to get himself re-elected.
The majority of cuts that he is purposing is INSANE. I can only hope that IF he gets his way on some, that in the very near future he finds himself incontinent and NO bed pads or adult diapers available!!!!.
Why not look at the Administrators of ALL the school districts? Somebody needs to tell me why a Chancellor of a University deserves to make 1 MILLION + a year and why does a sports coach need to make 430,000 (or more) a year? And why in K-12 there is a Principal and 4 to 5 Vice Principals plus all the Admin's but yet teachers that are in the trenches with our children are the ones that are disregarded right off the bat??
And how about the fact that GIbbons increased HIS staffs salaries anywhere from 25 to 40% (oh yes and let's not forget) and then cut them 6%?!?!? Really do you think THEY were effected? Probably not. Then he gives 6% of his salary to the Teachers, oh but didn't bother to mention that he gets a $9,000.00 tax break. Who else gets that?
The problem with our country folks is it has been destroyed by Democrat and Republican both. It is no longer about party, it is about the American people that are trying their best and falling further and further down the CLIFF!!!!! And ALL of the politicans in office are out for themselves NOT US!!!!!! Money talks folks, if you can't see that you might need glasses (oh yes, Gibbons is trying to make those go away too!!).
One last thought, when you are so quick to say that State Workers are over paid and under worked... heres a thought, What do you think is happening to the families that both incomes are from State jobs that have already received 9.2% cuts in income (from furloughs) and they are purposing and additional 6% pay cut (adds up to 12%)? That is a total of 21.2% drop in income, do you think possibly more homes are going to be lost or they will no longer be able to afford day care, medical benefits (each spouse must carry their own insurance), car payments or even necessary utilities or groceries. Then what? ALL of his purposals are a trickle effect, there is nothing that he is purposing that is going to fix NEVADA's economy, this is all about HIM. No New Taxes is not the answer. It must be across the board - EVERYBODY pitches in!!!!!!
Turribula,
You just don't get it and you probably never will.
CCSD spent $1.4 million over the lowest bid for a school remodel because it has no incentive to save money or use it efficiently.
Cutting the budget doesn't mean we have to cut programs wholesale, though we can. For example - Vegas PBS. Spending money on all-day K and class size reduction have also proven ineffective. So is paying teachers extra for additional degrees (limited evidence suggests it is beneficial for science and math master degrees for teachers teaching science and math but no where else). Those could be cut.
But as I've said before. We need a complete overhaul of the system so that they have an incentive to use scarce resources efficiently. Empowering parents, teachers, and principals will have this effect. They will very quickly trim fat, whatever that might be.